A new face for Korean tourism is born! South Korea has launched a new ad campaign with the theme of “Korea: Let Your Story Begin.” The commercial stars Hallyu superstar Lee Min Ho to introduce major tourist attractions to a worldwide audience. Check out the initial photos and video.

On July 28, Starhaus Entertainment confirmed Lee Min Ho’s new job as the representative face of Korea, stating, “The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will supervise a new international ad campaign to present Korea’s attractions and has selected Lee Min Ho as the center of the campaign.”

Lee Min Ho said via his agency Starhaus, “It was indeed a meaningful opportunity to promote the beauty of our country. I hope this will work as a trigger to revive the current recession in Korea’s tourist industry.”

The campaign has a budget close to US$856 million and is tasked with a mission to show Korea’s beauty to the world. The commercials were filmed in a collaboration by Korean director Park Myung Cheon and Taiwanese director Wayne Peng. Starting in early August, the campaign will air commercials on Arirang TV in Korea, CNN in the USA, CCTV (Central TV) in China, and other international channels such as in Canada, Japan, and Thailand.

Lee Min Ho is the perfect man with a highly admired image to highlight Korea’s beautiful culture and natural beauty. We fans could have told the Korean government to do this already, but it’s never too late to start something that feels so right.

Now that you’ve seen the video and the photos, are you checking out flights to Korea? Which attractions would you like to visit in Korea?

Dispatch reported that the two have been in a relationship for 2 months now, and have been going on dates all over the globe. Dispatch caught Lee Min Ho as he went to Paris for a photoshoot on the 10th, and Suzy as she went to London for a photoshoot on the same date. However, after Lee Min Ho was done, he flew to London to meet Suzy. Suzy checked out from her Waldorf hotel on the 15th, and waited for Lee Min Ho to pick her up there.

Afterward, the two checked in (at slightly different times) at London’s Shangri-La at The Shard, and afterward the two enjoyed 3-day date in London, with Lee Min Ho driving both of them around.

Even in Seoul, Lee Min Ho picked up Suzy, meeting almost every single day since February 25th, except for the time Lee Min Ho was overseas for a schedule.

UPDATE:

Lee Min Ho’s label Star House Entertainment said, “The two of them started dating about a month ago, and they’re currently careful about their relationship. We hope everyone watches them with warmth.”

JYP Entertainment also said, “Suzy and Lee Min Ho have been dating for about a month. They’re just carefully starting, so we would be grateful if people look on them warmly”.